ADVERTISEMENT

Deutsche Bank’s DWS Considers Sale of Funds Platform IKS

Deutsche Bank’s DWS Considers Sale of Funds Platform IKS

Deutsche Bank AG’s asset management arm is considering a sale of investment funds platform IKS, according to people familiar with the matter, little more than two years after identifying it as a key growth area.

DWS Group, which is majority owned by Germany’s largest bank, is weighing a disposal of part or all of the IKS business, the people said, asking not to be identified as the matter is private. It hasn’t begun a formal sale process, according to the people.

A representative for DWS said it continuously evaluates its strategy amid consolidation in the asset management industry. “As part of this ongoing assessment, we will weigh strategic options for our fund management platform,” they said.

Platforms like IKS typically offer investors access to a range of investment products, including exchange-traded funds, in one place. IKS serves around 2 million clients with more than 100 billion euros ($113 billion) under management, according to one of the people.

In spring 2018, DWS Group said it was bringing its digital fund management businesses under the IKS brand in a bid to seize opportunities in the robo-advisory market, which is changing the way retail investors in particular build portfolios in Europe. DWS Group is one of the region’s largest ETF providers through its Xtrackers unit.

Fund platforms require major technology investments to succeed and a number of banks, including UBS Group AG and Credit Suisse Group AG, have sought to offload such businesses amid broader cost pressures. UBS agreed to sell its Fondcenter arm to Deutsche Boerse AG-owned Clearstream in January, while Credit Suisse sold its third-party funds platform InvestLab to Allfunds last year.

While it continues to keep an eye on its cost base, DWS isn’t the focus of a broader restructuring underway at Deutsche Bank. The German lender said a year ago that DWS remains a pillar of its growth strategy.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.